THE ARTIST AS LITERARY CHARACTER IN THE WORKS OF ANTON CHEKHOV by Amber Jo Aulen A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures University of Toronto Copyright by Amber J. Aulen 2018 ABSTRACT The Artist as Literary Character in the Work of Anton Chekhov Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Amber Jo Aulen Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures University of Toronto The present dissertation considers the methodology of Anton Chekhov’s literary ethics by focusing on the figure of the artist in his work. There are two general strategies he employs in depicting this figure. The first regards his engagement with typicality in characterizing the artist, and the second regards the reflexivity of the artist, which is to say the artist’s actions on the fictional plane draw attention to the author’s actions on the meta-fictional plane. The concern with typicality vis-à-vis the artist is more prominent in his earlier stories and is the focus of the first part of the dissertation. Chapter One addresses typicality in the genre of the physiologie in France and its Russian counterpart, the fiziologicheskii ocherk. This discussion lays the groundwork for Chapter Two, which addresses Chekhov’s move towards the complicated type in a trio of stories showcasing artists published in short succession in February 1886 – “An Actor’s Death” (“Akterskaia gibel’”), “Requiem” (“Panikhida”), and “Anyuta” (“Aniuta”). The reflexive quality of the figure of the artist, which we also find in the three aforementioned stories, is more prominent in Chekhov’s later stories and is the focus of the second part of the dissertation. How an artist sees is of particular importance to Chekhov. Chapter Three examines the visual artists in his mature work to determine the components of artistic vision he sets forth, namely serdechnost’, temporal and sensory specificity, and indeterminacy. Chapter Four analyzes the actress. From his early days as ii a writer, he was attentive to the power dynamics in the theater. His sympathy towards the actress in stories such as “Requiem” (“Panikhida”) and “A Boring Story” (Skuchnaia istoriia”) is noteworthy. Yet, as Chapter Four argues, he moves beyond sympathy in The Seagull (“Chaika”) to invest Nina, an actress, with the power of self-representation. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………..ii INTRODUCTION: Characterization and Ethics ……………………………………..1 1. Ethics, Metapoetics, and Character Study in Chekhov……………………………..…..6 2. Approaches to Characterization and Literary Character: Past and Present ……..……12 3. Literary Characters as Types …………………………………………………….…...19 4. Character Types and Comedy …………………………..…………………………….23 5. The Figure of the Artist in Chekhov: An Overview ……………………………….....25 CHAPTER ONE: Aesthetics and the Type …………………………………………..37 1.1. The Physiologie …………………………………………………………………….38 1.2. The Physiological Sketch on Russian Soil ………………………………………….51 1.3. The Chinovnik: A Quintessential Russian Type ……………………………………54 1.4. Vissarion Belinsky: Typicality in Theory …………………………………………..62 1.5. Dmitry Grigorovich: Typicality in Practice ………………………………………...66 CHAPTER TWO: Convention and Innovation – Navigating the Journalistic Context of the ‘Small Press’ and Beyond ………………………………75 2.1. The Journalistic and Social Context of the Illustrated Weeklies …...………………76 2.2. Straightforward Artist Types in Chekhov …………………………………………..85 2.3. Exploring the Inadequacies of the Type ………………………….……………….100 2.4. “Begi ot shablona”: Publication Context and Chekhov’s Aesthetics ……………..109 2.5. A New Path ………………………………………………………………………..112 2.6. From Theory to Practice: “The Bishop” …………………………………………..126 CHAPTER THREE: The Visual Artist – Seeing Artistically ……………………...135 3.1. Constructing an Artistic Perspective: Three Stories with Artists …………………139 3.2. The Makings of an Artistic Perspective (I): Non-Categorical …………………….144 3.3. The Makings of an Artistic Perspective (II): Serdechnost’ ……………………….151 3.4. The Makings of an Artistic Perspective (III): Temporal Specificity and Sensory Experience ……………………………………………………………………………...156 3.5. The Makings of an Artistic Perspective (IV): Indeterminacy ……………………..168 3.6. From Theory to Practice: “Lady with a Dog” ……………………………………..173 CHAPTER FOUR: “Ia – aktrisa” – Authority, Agency, and the Actress ………...181 4.1. Contextualizing the Figure of The Actress (I): Social and Cultural Perceptions …187 4.2. Contextualizing the Figure of the Actress (II): Russian Literature ………………..190 4.3. The Figure of the Actress in Chekhov …………………………………………….198 4.4. The Seagull ………………………………………………………………………...210 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………….225 APPENDIX ONE: English and Russian Names of Journals, Short Stories, Etc. ...230 iv BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………….233 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Whenever I open a book for the first time, I turn to the acknowledgments’ page. It reminds me that our lives and our accomplishments are built on community, and it is with great pleasure and gratitude that I write my own. My supervisor, Donna Orwin, has patiently led me through the PhD process, from my initial coursework to the completed dissertation. She has modeled how to be a thorough and deeply thoughtful scholar who is also personally invested in the questions she is asking. Kate Holland has read numerous drafts of the dissertation and has provided valuable commentary on its form and cohesion. Ralph Lindheim is a careful and meticulous reader of Chekhov. His expertise has been valuable in refining my argument and increasing my appreciation of Chekhov’s work. My external reader, Angela Brintlinger, has helped me more clearly articulate my vision of the dissertation as a whole and where I might go from here. I am unspeakably grateful for friends who have encouraged me on this journey. Jodi, Sarah, Rachel, and Anna have checked in, visited me, and opened their homes to me over the years. Our yearly gatherings have kept me sane and grounded. Olya has become a cherished friend over the course of preparing for comprehensive exams and navigating the challenges of writing a dissertation. Ania – my favorite knitting and yoga partner – is another of the valued friends I’ve met in this process. Jen has challenged and enabled me to live a balanced life, even while in graduate school. I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate. The GCF community at University of Toronto has been a rich source of support and sustenance, both physically and emotionally. I would choose Scott, Amber, and Ellie to be my friends even if they weren’t family. I’m fortunate they’re both. The standard Jean sets for being an aunt is high. She opened her home to me for several months as I finished writing the dissertation, continually makes me laugh, and has always been in my corner. Luke is the person I most want to talk with about literature, life, and everything in between. He has been incredibly supportive at the close of this chapter, and I am so happy to begin the next chapter with him by my side. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to my parents. They have instilled in me a conviction that we have a responsibility to treat others well and to be kind to ourselves. Their support has been unwavering and this dissertation would not have been possible without them. vi INTRODUCTION Characterization and Ethics All of those things I’ve been learning about in class, those bone-chilling abstractions theme, plot, and symbol are de-abstracted by hearing Toby read Chekhov aloud: they are simply tools with which to make your audience feel more deeply – methods of creating higher-order meaning. The stories and Toby’s reading of them convey a notion new to me, or one which, in the somber cathedral of academia, I’d forgotten: literature is a form of fondness-for-life. It is love for life taking verbal form. - George Saunders, “My Writing Education: A Time Line”1 In Anton Chekhov’s short story “Art” (“Khudozhestvo”), Seryozhka’s craftsmanship and attention to artistic form has a galvanizing effect both on the community and on him personally. Customarily lazy and prone to drunkenness, Seryozhka is enlisted once a year to create a Jordan (Iordan’): an ice hole cut in the shape of a cross for the Russian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany.2 Once he starts the work in earnest, he displays a singular devotion to its form, from the wooden pegs that hold a wooden circle in place to ice sculptures of a lectern and a cross. On the cross sculpture he goes so far as to “carve an expression of meekness and humility on the face of the dove.”3 After the intricate ice carving is finished, he frantically rushes from store to store to procure paints. As he does so, the text recounts the impact art has in bringing the villagers together, alongside Seryozhka, “….they all feel that his art is not his personal affair but something that 1 George Saunders, “My Writing Education: A Time Line” (The New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2015) www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/my-writing-education-a-timeline (last accessed 13 Dec. 2016). 2 The Jordan in this story is elaborate and includes the following components: a wooden ring, which is placed over a hole in the ice, with pegs along the outside and a red cross in the center; two ice sculptures, one of a lectern with the Gospel and a cross carved into it and another of a cross with a dove carved on it. All the components are subsequently painted with a variety of colors, including two of which Seryozhka makes himself (using beetroot, presumably for a dark red color, and onion peels for a yellow color). 3 выточить на лице голубя кротость и смиренномудрие (4:290). All quotes from Chekhov’s work are taken from A. P. Chekhov, Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem v tridtsati tomakh (Nauka, 1974). The sources for the English translations are identified in Appendix One. 1 concerns them all, the whole people.”4 The finished creation inspires wonder and enlivens onlookers. Seryozhka’s attention to form also transforms him, “…the lazy fellow’s soul is filled with a sense of glory and triumph.”5 In short, he becomes an artist, even if only for a moment.